Author Archives: Chaplainmike

we live these dayswith swabs up our nosesmasks covering our facesalcohol dripping from handsthat hesitate to shake other handswe measure our distancingwe balk at embracingwe’re worried about breathingfor god’s sake and everyone’s an expertbut nobody knowswhat the hell is happeningor why or whenwhatever we think “normal” iswill someday reappearall i can say is thatevery morningContinue reading “apocalypse now?”

velma lay dyingreaching toward heavensmile in her eyeswith lovers surrounded as velma lay dyingelvis was watchingdown from his picturewaiting in heaven as velma lay dyinglewis, her husbandshyly would touch hershake his head sadly as velma lay dyingteresa, her daughtertold her it’s okaysomeday we’ll join you as velma lay dyingcurtains and knick-knackstwo chairs with afghansframed herContinue reading “velma lay dying”

a friend from my past who i saw at a reunionsomeone i used to laugh and play sports withgrimaced when i told him what i doa chaplain in hospice, i said, when he asked meand immediately he had no wordsjust this look of distaste so strikingyou’d think i’d spit in his drinkor told him iContinue reading “walk among the trees in fall”

in long and deep midwinterdreams of spring ariseof fulsome brooks and fragile budsof warmer winds and skiesthat, moaning, pour the anguished tearsof childbirth on the landand ‘midst the muddy, messy mucktransform the slender strandsweaving a carpet ‘neath the treeswhich don their own green gownsand fill the space below the bluelike dancers all aroundwho hear the callContinue reading “midwinter”

the cat likes to be nearbybut not fussed overthe only time she rubs against my legis in the kitchen, begging for foodoccasionally she’ll curl up beside me while i sitor lay at our feet on the bed at nightmost evenings it’s the back of the sofa or chairwhile we all watch tv from our customaryContinue reading “cat at arm’s length”